Stephen King on Why He's Like Walt Disney and Why He Doesn't Like Kubrick's 'The Shining'

Author Stephen King has two new books out this year – his carnival novel Joy Land (out last month) and his long-awaited sequel to The Shining, Doctor Sleep (due out this fall). If that weren’t enough, a miniseries based on his mammoth novel Under the Domeis currently airing on CBS.

In celebration of all that, the master of the macabre recently sat down with CBS’ Sunday Morning to reflect on his life, career and compulsion to write. In typical King fashion, the interview is filled with lively observations, including a comparison between himself and Mickey Mouse icon Walt Disney.

When the interviewer says that a coworker once called King "Walt Disney’s evil twin," the author laughs, agrees and then explains why he thinks he has a lot in common with Disney.

"After all, I'm the guy who invented the clown that eats children instead of, you know, making them laugh. In fact, I have an amusement park book called Joy Land that's going to come out in June, and it's got a haunted house, if you will, the fun house. So I'd have to say I've created some dark rides, so, sure. And don't forget, Disney had his Stephen King side -- he was the guy who gave us the forest fire that scared all those children when they went to see Bambi. And there's the Evil Queen in Snow White. And Walt Disney also killed off Old Yeller! [Laughs] So, yeah, I would say that there's a certain similarity there."

The wide-ranging interview covers a lot of ground (and reveals one story that King had to scrap that we’d have loved to read), and eventually detours for a visit to the set of Under the Dome and the inevitable discussion about why King thinks Stanley Kubrick’s version of The Shining sucks.

You can check out the video interview below, and if you finish that and find yourself yearning for more time with the undisputed master of horror, there’s a lengthier print version that features lots of observations that were cut due to time constraints.

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